House Speaker Mike Johnson was profiled in a German news report attending a “purity ball” with his teenage daughter, where she was required to take a vow of abstinence in a bizarre, prom-like ritual.
Johnson, 51, and his then 13-year-old daughter Hannah were seen in unearthed 2015 news footage from n-tv preparing for the controversial dance, while a reporter remarked that it “looks like a wedding” .
“But they are not bride and groom, but father and… daughter,” the reporter adds, with Johnson seen in a black tuxedo and his young daughter in a white dress. The segment was first reported by ABC News.
The MP's attendance at the religious event came after he raised eyebrows following his surprise appointment as speaker in October as he was forced to defend statements including calling same-sex marriage a “dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy.” .
Mike Johnson was seen in unearthed footage from a German news agency in 2015 attending a “purity ball” with his daughter Hannah
The congressman ended the event with his daughter signing a vow of abstinence, with the 13-year-old saying she was committed to “a life of purity, including sexual purity.”
Hannah, then 13, was wearing a white dress when a news reporter remarked that her visit to her father “looked like a wedding.” At the event, she signed a promise to abstain from all sexual activity until marriage
The 51-year-old Louisiana representative was a little-known congressman when he was elected speaker of the House of Representatives in October
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has four children (seen together) with his wife Kelly, who was heard on the archive footage saying she refused to discuss contraception with her daughters because “sex before marriage is simply out of the question.” comes”.
According to the New York Times, the first “purity ball” was thrown in Colorado Springs in 1998 when activist Randy Wilson had other fathers sign a pledge to protect the virginity of their unmarried teenage daughters.
In the early 2000s, the idea gained popularity among some conservative Christian groups, typically involving a father and teenage daughter wearing formal, wedding-like attire.
They then enjoyed dinner and dancing before the night ended with the daughter signing a promise to her father to abstain from any sexual activity until marriage.
Critics of “purity balls” have claimed that it is a coercive and unproductive idea that does little other than objectify young girls they want to “protect.”
Johnson was seen in footage shared by Newsnation's Dan Abrams attending an event in 2015 that covered the then-rising demand for “purity balls” on German television.
Johnson, his wife Kelly and Hannah gave interviews to the German news agency about their reasons for taking part, with the 13-year-old committing “to a life of purity, including sexual purity.”
Johnson said he attended the Purity Ball with his daughter Hannah (far left) because “there are predators and prey out there” and he hoped she would learn to “stay away from the wolves like that.” They are pictured with his wife Kelly and children (left to right) Abigail, Will and Jack
Hannah also vowed to her father to “make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future husband and my future children,” to which Johnson nodded in agreement.
He told the show that he took his daughter to the event because “there are predators and prey out there” and he hoped she would learn to “stay away from the wolves like that.”
Johnson's wife, Kelly, a former teacher who is now a Christian counselor, added that her parents “don't talk to (Hannah) about contraception” because “sex before marriage is just out of the question.”
The unearthed footage from eight years ago is the latest example of how Speaker Johnson's extreme religious beliefs only came to light after he rose to second place in the presidential line of succession.
After the “Purity Ball” footage was revealed, many journalists took to social media to share their disapproval of the event Victoria Brownworth branding it “so incredibly creepy.”
“If this isn't weird crap I don't know what is,” another viewer added.
His previous comments that have drawn backlash include calling abortion “truly an American holocaust” and branding gay marriage a “moral lapse” that “could doom even the strongest republic.”
Johnson has raised fears about his potential role in the 2024 presidential election after he helped support Donald Trump's efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 results
After he took office as speaker, some expressed fears about his potential role in the 2024 presidential election after he championed efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results for Joe Biden.
He has worked with anti-LGBTQ organizations and suggested that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – which enshrined the right to abortion – in June, the court should take up gay marriage next.
He was a little-known congressman when Kevin McCarthy was fired from the speaker's position in October and was quickly asked to clarify where his hard-line beliefs came from.
“Take a Bible off your shelf and read it,” he told Fox News. “That’s my worldview.”
Fox News' Sean Hannity asked about the 51-year-old lawmaker's work as spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, where he called homosexuality “sinful and destructive” and said there is “no clear right to sodomy in the Constitution.”
He claimed that he could not remember some of his statements and stressed: “Furthermore, I truly love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices. “This is not about the people themselves. I am a Bible-believing Christian.”